f soccer: Tennis

Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts

Monday, February 27, 2012

Andy Roddick American Professional Tennis Player

Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the third highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish and John Isner.

He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 US Open, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the finals, which currently makes him the last North American male player to win a grand slam singles event. Roddick has reached four other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005 and 2009, and the US Open in 2006), losing to Roger Federer each time. He is married to Brooklyn Decker, a Sports Illustrated swim wear model and actress.

Roddick lived in Austin, Texas, from age 4 until he was 11, and then moved to Boca Raton, Florida, in the interest of his brother's tennis career, attending Boca Prep International School, and graduating from the Class of 2000. Roddick played varsity basketball in high school alongside his future Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish, who trained and lived with Roddick in 1999. During that time period, he sometimes trained with Venus and Serena Williams; he later moved back to Austin.

It was while Roddick was flipping through a previous swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated that Roddick first noticed Brooklyn Decker, to whom he is now married. The two had been dating since 2007, and on March 31, 2008, Roddick announced on his website that he and Decker had become engaged. The couple were married in Austin on April 17, 2009.

Roddick began his 2011 campaign in the Brisbane International as the second seed and the defending champion, where he was defeated 6–3 7–5 by Swedish no. 1 seed Robin Söderling in the final. In the Australian Open, Roddick was the no. 8 seed. In the round of 16, Roddick lost to Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, 3–6, 4–6, 4–6. He then won the 2011 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, defeating Milos Raonic in the final, 7–6, 6–7, 7–5, along with Ričardas Berankis, 4–6, 6–2, 6–3, Janko Tipsarević, 6–1, 7–6, Lleyton Hewitt, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, and Juan Martín del Potro, 6–3, 6–4.

Roddick began his 2012 season playing at the AAMI Classic. In the main draw first round, he lost to Gael Monfils 7-6(2), 7-6(3). After this loss, he played at the play-offs of the tournament, where he won against Tomas Berdych 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 and lost to Kei Nishikori double 6-3. His next tournament was the 2012 Australian Open. In the first round, he beat Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. In the second round, he was forced to retire against Australian Lleyton Hewitt, while trailing 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 due to a hamstring injury.

Andy Roddick

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Mahesh Bhupathi Indian Professional Tennis Player

Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974 in Madras) is an Indian professional tennis player widely regarded as among the best doubles players in the world with 11 Grand Slam titles to his credit. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a Grand Slam tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2006, he joined the elite group of eight tennis players who have achieved a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.

Mahesh Bhupathi is best known as one of the top doubles players in the '90s and '00s. In 1999, Bhupathi won three doubles titles with Leander Paes, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He and Leander became the first doubles team to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams, the first time such a feat has been achieved in the open era and the first time since 1952. On 26 April of that year, they became the world no. 1 doubles team. Bhupathi also won the US Open mixed doubles with Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

In 2006, Bhupathi teamed with Martina Hingis in the Australian Open mixed doubles competition. Entering the tournament unseeded and as wildcards, the first-time pair defeated four seeded opponents along the way, while only dropping a single set throughout. Bhupathi and Hingis defeated the sixth-seeded team of Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3, to capture the championship. It was the sixth mixed doubles Grand Slam for Bhupathi, and a first for Hingis. By winning the Australian Open, Bhupathi completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.

In 2007, Bhupathi and Czech Radek Štěpánek reached the 2007 Australian Open men's doubles event's quarterfinals. He teamed with Štěpánek at the 2007 French Open to make the doubles semifinals, defeating two-year defending champions Jonas Björkman and Max Mirnyi in the quarterfinals. The team lost to the eventual champions Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. After Wimbledon, Bhupathi teamed with Pavel Vízner to win the 2007 Canada Masters, defeating the top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan en route.

After this victory, he won a tournament in New Haven with Nenad Zimonjić. At the 2007 US Open, he and Zimonjić paired in doubles. After the US Open, the team that beat Bhupathi and Štěpánek in the French Open semifinals, Knowles and Nestor, split up. Bhupathi became Knowles' partner, while Zimonjić became Nestor's, but back surgery mean he was out until the end of the year.

In 2009, Bhupathi and doubles partner Sania Mirza won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open, beating Nathalie Dechy (France) and Andy Ram (Israel), 6–3, 6–1, in the final. The ace Indian pair thus made up for the disappointment of the previous year's final when they were beaten by Tiantian Sun and Nenad Zimonjić. With this win, Bhupathi's count in mixed doubles Grand Slam titles increased to seven.

Bhupathi broke up his partnership with Knowles and began playing once again with Max Mirnyi, with whom he played to win the 2002 US Open. In 2011, Bhupathi reunited with former playing partner Leander Paes for the 2011 Australian Open. The team of Bhupathi and Paes reached the final, but lost, 3–6, 4–6, to the Bryan brothers.

Mahesh Bhupathi

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Aisam-ul-Haq Pakistani Professional Tennis Player

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (born March 17, 1980, in Lahore, Pakistan) is a professional tennis player from Pakistan. He is currently Pakistan's top player. A top 10 doubles player, his highest Singles Race ranking is 103rd and is the former Asian No. 3.

He is the only Pakistani tennis player to reach the final of a Grand Slam, which he did in 2010 competing in both mixed doubles (partnering with Květa Peschke) and men's doubles (partnering with Rohan Bopanna) at the US Open. Qureshi teamed with Israeli player Amir Hadad during Wimbledon and the US Open tournaments in 2002.

The duo won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award for playing together despite pressure from their communities. As Pakistani No. 1, Qureshi has traditionally led Pakistan's Davis Cup campaigns. After shocking New Zealand in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I second round play-off in 2004 to survive relegation, he took them to the World Group Play-Offs for the first time in 2005, before they were beaten by Chile.

He has won the most Davis Cup matches for Pakistan, being the most successful singles and doubles player ever. He is also half of the most successful doubles pairing for Pakistan (with Aqeel Khan) in the country's sporting history. Qureshi is now a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Aisam and his partner Rohan Bopanna have created a campaign, Stop War Start Tennis, with their goal to play a match on the border joining India and Pakistan. Bopanna and Qureshi compiled a consistent season, reaching the semifinals or better at seven tournaments in total, including at the US Open, where they were runners-up a year earlier. They also reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, losing to the Bryans.

The greatest achievement of the Indo-Pak express in 2011 was winning the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. They defeated the pair of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in the final, 6-2, 6-4. They reached the finals by defeating the third seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor, 6-3, 7-6, in the semifinals and the second seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6, in the quarterfinals.

They became the seventh doubles team to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on 6 November. In their first round-robin match, they lost to Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor by 7-6, 4-6, 11-9. In their second round-robin match they were defeated by Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic by 7-6, 6-3.

In their third match, the Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski by 6-2, 6-1. Aisam and Rohan lost all the three of their matches in the 2011 ATP World Tour and did not qualify for semi-final.